Castillo aims for state title and then some

Adam Castillo carries memories both awesome and awful from last July’s USA Boxing national championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. Awesome in that he advanced to the semifinals.

Awful in that it wasn’t even another boxer that put him out of the tournament.

Coming off a quarterfinal win in which he recorded three knockdowns, the Lubbock Warriors boxer failed a physical. Castillo’s right hand was sore and swollen, and after X-rays showed a hairline fracture, a doctor wouldn’t let him fight.

“I made it to third in the nation, and I never lost,” Castillo said Thursday. “I was fixing to fight the No. 1 guy. This year, I know I’m going to be first.”

That could be more than hollow talk. Castillo, 19, is ranked No. 3 in the nation at 141 pounds by USA Boxing. Last year, in addition to reaching the USA Boxing national semifinals, he made it to the quarterfinals of the national Golden Gloves in Little Rock, Ark.

His 2011 campaign starts at home this weekend with the Texas State USA Boxing championships at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Towers, located at 801 Ave. Q. The three-day tournament begins at 7 p.m. today, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets ranging from $25 down to $6 for age 10 and under are available at the door.

Though Castillo is nationally ranked at 141, he has shed weight to pursue a national title in the 132-pound weight class this year.

“I feel a lot stronger, a lot faster, and they’re all my size,” said the 5-foot-6 Castillo, whose first fight is expected to be Saturday. “So I think I’ll dominate easy at 132.”

When Castillo joined the Warriors two years ago, he weighed 160. He won the USA Boxing state title last year in El Paso at 141. Joseph Rosendo Jr., one of the team’s coaches and a former national contender himself, said Castillo is better suited for 132.

“We’ve finally gotten him down to a weight we feel he can be a national champion at and represent the U.S. in the Olympics at,” Rosendo said. “At 141, he proved to everybody that he’s a fighter to be reckoned with, even at that weight class. At 132, I think he’s definitely a force that you’re going to have to go through to be No. 1.”

There’s plenty at stake, particularly this year. Winners in each weight division this weekend in Lubbock earn a trip to USA Boxing nationals in June in Colorado Springs. The top four in each division there qualify for the Olympic Trials in July.

A few years ago, Castillo couldn’t have imagined being part of a conversation about national titles and the Olympic Trials.

Like many Texas youngsters, he tried football first.

“The contact. That’s why I liked football, because it was a contact sport,” he said. “And then boxing was more a contact sport, so they put me in boxing.”

His father, David Castillo, got him started in boxing four or five years ago, Adam said. When he came to the Warriors, Rosendo said, Castillo was “a little rough around the edges,” but with heart and desire.

“His biggest strength is his conditioning and his determination,” Rosendo said. “Adam’s always been one of those guys who’s not afraid to mix it up, but we’ve taught him a little bit more how to box and the technical side of it. The kid is very confident right now.”

Castillo says he has better footwork, better conditioning and throws more punches than he did a couple of years ago. Losing almost 30 pounds might have been the hardest part.

“It was hard, real hard,” he said, “but it started becoming easier the more I got in shape.”